Ukrainian troops advanced further into the northeastern region of the country on Tuesday, reclaiming the town of Vovchansk, 3 kilometers from the Russian border, that Moscow's forces had seized on the first day of their invasion nearly seven months ago.
The Kyiv government exulted in its sudden success, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying late Monday that in the last few weeks its forces had retaken more than 6,000 square kilometers.
"The movement of our troops continues," he said.
Ukrainian troops hoisted the country's blue-and-yellow flags and officials released video of soldiers burning Russian flags and inspecting the charred tanks Russian troops left behind as they retreated. Border guards tore down a poster that read, "We are one people with Russia."
Ukrainian Deputy Minister Hanna Maliar said Kyiv is trying to persuade Russian soldiers to surrender, firing shells filled with flyers ahead of their advance.
"Russians use you as cannon fodder. Your life doesn't mean anything for them. You don't need this war. Surrender to Armed Forces of Ukraine," the flyers read.
In its latest assessment, British intelligence said that one of Russia's premier forces, the 1st Guards Tank Army, had been "severely degraded" during the war with Ukraine and that "Russia's conventional force designed to counter NATO is severely weakened. It will likely take years for Russia to rebuild this capability."
With the Ukrainian advances, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone call to "come to a diplomatic solution as quickly as possible, based on a cease-fire, a complete withdrawal of Russian forces and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Ukraine," according to the chancellor's spokesman.
U.S. officials were cautious in their assessment of the Kyiv advances.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there has been "significant progress by the Ukrainians, particularly in the northeast," citing both support from the United States and other allies and "the extraordinary courage and resilience of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian people."
"This is early days still," Blinken said. "So, I think it would be wrong to predict exactly where this will go, when it will get there and how it will get there."
Analysts say the war is likely to continue into 2023, but the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Monday that "Ukraine has turned the tide of this war in its favor" through its effective use of Western-supplied weapons like the long-range HIMARS missile system and strategic battlefield maneuvers.
"Kyiv will likely increasingly dictate the location and nature of the major fighting."
Russia continued to shell Ukrainian positions, including the city of Lozova in the Kharkiv region, where three people were killed and nine injured, according to Ukrainian regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.
Fighting also raged near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where officials remain worried about the safety of the facility and fears of radiation leaks.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.